Quarter Quell
by thosehayffiefeels
Summary: Haymitch finds Effie, one of the District 1 tributes, and allies with her during the 50th Quarter Quell. AU Hayffie.


**I first wrote this as a prompt for tumblr but I really liked the way it turned out. Originally, an anonymous person asked me to write a prompt of "Haymitch & Effie in the games, & Haymitch doing everything to protect her, since she was too fragile. Effie then getting injured, unable to walk. He then carries her & mends her somewhere safe" soooo this happened. Please review and let me know what you think of it and if you'd like me to post another chapter continuing on in the Games. It is set during the Quarter Quell, not too far along in it. **

**Disclaimer: I am not Suzanne Collins **

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"One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine." Haymitch counted the sounds of the cannon.

There was just a feast for the tributes, really just a way to get them to fight quicker, that obviously just ended. Haymitch didn't go- he knew what the outcome might be. Haymitch strayed away from the edge of the forcefield, venturing into the forests that surrounded one side of the meadow.

He watched as a female tribute inspected a flower, deciding if it was edible. Haymitch already knew he couldn't kill her- he recognized her right away. Effie Trinket, one of the tributes from 1. Usually he wouldn't ally with someone from a career district, but he knew that Effie was no career. Whenever he first saw her reaping, he saw the horrified look in her eyes, knowing she despised this as much as him.

"Don't eat that." He called out to her. She jumped in surprising, holding a knife, ready to throw, looking for the source of the voice. When she saw it was Haymitch, she very slowly lowered her knife.

"Why not?" She asked him, taking a cautious step forward.

He shrugged, "Well, I don't know. For one thing it doesn't look like something you'd find appetizing over there in 1," he said sarcastically, "and also its poisonous, so it might not be to good of an idea."

She looked down at the flowers and then took another step towards Haymitch, "Thanks."

"Yeah, whatever. Listen, I don't really think it would do me any good to kill you right now, so what do you say we ally?" Haymitch smiled at her.

"Wow," Effie said sarcastically, "what a way to win a girl's heart. But, sure."

"Good," Haymitch said. He pointed towards the direction he came from, "Shall we go this way?"

Effie nodded and followed him towards the border of the arena. A few feet from the edge of the forest, Effie felt a sudden burst of pain in her right foot. She let out a small cry of pain, knowing that if she had screamed like she wanted to, other tributes would find out where they were. She looked down at her foot and saw a huge gash right above her ankle. Next to her foot lay a knife covered in her blood. Someone must have thrown it towards her. Her eyes darted up and she saw another tribute with a spear aimed straight at her. Before she could react, Haymitch shot him with one of his few remaining arrows that he had gotten at the cornucopia. At the sound of the cannon, he lowered his bow and ran to Effie's side. She fell to the ground and clutched her ankle, now realizing just how deep the gash was.

"Thank you, Haymitch." She told him, wincing in pain.

"No problem, princess," he smiled at her. He ripped off a piece of fabric from the bottom of his t-shirt and dabbed it against her ankle.

A parachute came falling down from the sky, landing softly in the grass next to the pair. Haymitch opened it, finding a jar of medicine and some fabric.

"Well, princess, I guess the sponsors must like seeing an unlikely alliance like ours," he held up the medicine, "this must've cost a small fortune." He opened up the medicine and applied a thin layer to the gash. Effie tensed up at the pain, but knew that the medicine would possibly save her. Haymitch then wrapped the cloth around her ankle multiple times, stopping more blood from pouring out.

"Can you walk?" He asked her, offering a hand to held her up.

She took a step forward only to fall down. She shook her head vigorously.

"Alright." Haymitch shrugged. He picked her up and started walking.

Effie wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to balance in his arms. She wanted to talk to Haymitch, find out more about him before it was too late. "So, why didn't you kill me?"

Haymitch looked up at her, and then went back to staring at the ground ahead of them, "I don't really know. I guess I just figured that you wouldn't be so bad. I could tell that you weren't a career from the moment I saw you at the reaping. I'm surprised one of them didn't volunteer for you. Usually ever tribute from 1 is a volunteer."

"Maybe they figured that the odds wouldn't be in their favor this year." Effie said quietly.

"Yeah," Haymitch agreed. He carried her the rest of the way in comfortable silence, finally stopping at a cluster of trees that would do well to hide them as she recovered.

Haymitch sat her down at the base of one tree and quickly scanned the area to make sure it was completely safe. Then, he sat down next to her.

"It's funny," he said, "I always thought that all of District 1 wanted to be in the Games and that all of them thought it was an honor. Why aren't you like that?"

Effie leaned her head against his chest, "I used to be like that. But then one of my best friends was reaped and I realized that it tore people apart. I never saw it the same after that."

Haymitch didn't say anything. Instead he looked at how she was positioned, leaning against his chest, and started laughing.

She looked up at him, confusion clearly written upon her face. "What?"

"I'm just surprised. Most allies don't even feel safe enough to get in touching distance of one another let alone actually lean against them.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…" Effie started babbling on, moving away from him and propping herself up against the tree trunk.

"No princess, it's fine," he said grabbing her arm and forcing her to come back over to him. She leaned back against his chest and he wrapped both of his arms around her. "I was just stating the facts."

Effie smiled at him, feeling truly safe for the first time in the arena. She didn't dare think of the fact that only one of them would have the chance of going home. She changed the subject, although she lifted her hands up and intertwined them with his, "I was thinking we should make a schedule. I'm very fond of those. We can plan on leaving here sometime tomorrow whenever I should be recovered, and then we can head back to the cornucopia, scout it out and see if there is a way to get some food."

"I don't really like planning like that." Haymitch said, "besides, I've got enough food for a while." He took his small bag from his back and opened it, revealing a couple of apples, an orange, and a flask of water.

"Ok, well I'd still like to move a little bit tomorrow, so that we don't stay in one place for too long." She said. Haymitch agreed, only because he didn't want to force Effie to leave him. He wanted to be with her for as long as he could.

Soon after the sun set, Effie grew tired. Haymitch admired the way she put complete trust in him and was even willing to fall asleep in his arms. He gently moved some of the hair out of her face and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

Effie turned in his arms to look at him, "They'll get a kick out of this, huh? The girl from 1 and the boy from 12. No one would've expected it."

Haymitch nodded in agreement. They spent the night sharing stories about their families and their lives back in their home districts. Once the sun rose, Effie got up, testing her ankle. The medicine had healed it quite nicely and she was able to walk. They settled on eating something and then starting to walk. Haymitch peeled the orange and divided it in half, giving her the slightly bigger one. They ate in silence, although Effie repeatedly would reach out, just to touch his hand or caress his cheek.

Once they were finished eating and ready to leave, Haymitch took a moment to talk to Effie. He took both of her hands in his and said, "Listen, Effie. I know how this ends for us, but I just need you to know something. I promise I'm not going to leave you here, but I just wanted you to know…" Haymitch stuttered, at a loss for words, "That I care about you and I promise I'm going to protect you. I never imagined I'd meet someone like you and I just wish we could've had more time together." After speaking, Haymitch wrapped his arms around her neck, leaning in to kiss her. He kissed her with as much passion as he could muster up, saying all the things he wished he had time to say to her. Effie kissed him back, not caring about the cameras which she was sure were now focused on them.

After they parted, Effie buried her head in his chest, whispering that she loved him. Soon, they knew that they had to start moving, realizing that no where was completely safe and hidden. They walked hand in hand through the forest. Occasionally, Effie would stand on her toes and kiss him.

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**I hope you liked the story! Please let me know what you thought and if you'd like me to add on. **


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